Kolkata police commissioner Soumen Mitra on Tuesday underscored the need for the force to improve communication skills while dealing with people for better and effective policing.
“We will be able to do our work more confidently if we have better communication skills,” Mitra said.
He was speaking at the launch of a communication skills course for Kolkata police personnel. The online course — Communicating with Confidence — has been designed by the British Council.
Nine officers took a demo physical class at the British Council on Tuesday.
“This course is about communication skills. This is not a course on spoken English.... In the new scenario, many new types of crime have surfaced for which we need to sharpen our communication skills,” Mitra said.
The initiative came a month after two men were refused their right to report a complaint of theft at a city police station because they were wearing shorts. Later, an inquiry was conducted and departmental action was taken against the cops concerned.
Debanjan Chakrabarti, director, east and Northeast India, British Council, said the focus of the course would be on soft skills.
“The cops have to deal with general citizenry as well as with other agencies outside the state and, at times, outside the country. The course aims to improve the communication skills of Kolkata police officers so that they can be more effective in all these interactions,” Chakrabarti said.
The 22.5-hour course, where participation is voluntary, will stretch seven weeks with twice-a-week classes.